The hot Supreme Court news of the day has been, not so much the President's sharp words for the Court about Citizens United, but the reaction of Justice Samuel Alito. Seated only a few feet from the President in the second row, Justice Alito shook his head several times and mouthed the words "that's not true." You can watch the footage here.
Alito has a point here, at least a technical one. The Court did not overturn a century of precedent, as Citizens United only concerned corporate direct expenditures, not corporate contributions. But I think justice Alito is sort of missing the forest for the trees. And he failed to realize that, in a situation like this, his actions are only going to make him (and the court) look worse. Stated differently, there is nothing to be gained (as a Supreme Court justice) by being seen on television shaking your head at the President during his State of the Union address, no matter how correct you are.
As I mentioned last night, this is all pretty interesting. And pretty funny.